TAKING THE WORD OF GOD TO ISLAM #2 John Hall ABOUT THE KORAN (QURAN) The Koran was revealed in Arabic over a period of twenty-two years (AD 610-632). Since Muslims universally insist that Mohammed was illiterate, they claim that he received nonliterary (unwritten) revelations from the angel Gabriel, which he never wrote down (of course how could he if he was illiterate). The Koran supports this contention (6:7; 7:158; 17:93; 25:5; 29:48,51). This means the Koran existed first only orally as spoken by Mohammed. The next step, therefore, in preserving these “revelations” is to retrieve all these oral teachings from all the many hearers. Most of Islam will also admit and contend that this process of collecting and compiling all these “revelations” did not begin until after Mohammed’s death. This brings us to a very important point concerning the Koran. If Mohammed is indeed (as they claim) the final and greatest prophet, this necessitates that the retelling and recording of these “revelations” would be left to uninspired speakers, writers, and memories. Muslim scholars and historians credit Abu Bakr (his best friend and father of his favorite wife) with having been the first to organize the collection and transmitting of all these “revelations” in one single book. They contend he produced the first official written Koran. Many Muslim apologists and scholars admit that after the initial compilation of the Koran was finished, many copies were burned. They will go on to explain, however, that this burning took place because there were “incorrect copies” and many with “mistakes“. They admit, therefore, that since their process of recording and collecting these “revelations” was a completely uninspired process, there were many mistakes and errors in early copies. Where most people contend that through the years a work will lose its credibility, the Muslims must contend that through the years their book gains more and more credibility as they remove the mistakes and contradictions. It is often contended that when mistakes and contradictions arise, they are totally the fault of the translation of the text into another language other than Arabic. In the author’s personal experience, this has been a common response, which is why in my work I always carried an Arabic copy of the Koran for Muslim students to use (though most of them could not use it if they wanted to!). By stating this, the person is basically saying the only way the Koran can be truly understood in its “perfect” and “inerrant” form is by speaking and/or reading the Arabic language. The god of the Koran has decided that the true message can only be received through one language, and the Koran claims in several passages that it has been preserved in only pure and clear Arabic speech (26:195). Interestingly enough, though, scattered throughout the pages of the Koran are words from other languages! For example, Syrian words are used repeatedly in the Koran (3:45- masih translated Messiah, 2:50- furqan translated salvation, etc.). Finally, it is also important to understand what Muslims call Islamic Hadith. The Hadith is simply a collection of “traditions” regarding the life and sayings of the prophet Mohammed and how he responded to others. These traditions were first transmitted by word of mouth and later recorded. It is regarded as just as much the word of Allah as the Koran (some Muslims esteem it more authoritative even than the Koran). WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT BOOKS LIKE THE KORAN Where Jesus was not satisfied leaving the truth to the unaided human memories of His apostles alone, He instead told them the Holy Ghost would “teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). The same cannot be said for the Koran. In recording the Bible, not only did God inspire the writer’s memory and knowledge, He also inspired their writings. “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you” (2 Peter 3:15). “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful” (Rev. 21:5). This is how Paul, through the Holy Spirit, could write “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). All that is Scripture, whether oral or written, is God-breathed. That means if something new is taught, remembered, or written without the direct assistance of God, it is not Scripture! That introduces another very important concept directly relating to the Koran. God breathed the words written by the apostle Paul when He wrote: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9). If the angel Gabriel brought a message to Mohammed (as they claim), that is different, contradictory, or even additional to what the apostles of Jesus Christ taught, the message should be rejected! Paul could not be any plainer than what he wrote to the Galatians. So, the man of God simply needs to compare the words of the Koran to the words of the apostles of Jesus Christ, and in every single way that the Koran is different than Scripture, it should be rejected and its author should be considered accursed. And, in whatever ways they agree, they are not true because the Koran said it (or in other words because Mohammed rewrote what he read in Scripture that had already been written), it is true because Scripture said it before Mohammed was even born! Where the god of the Koran has decided that the true message can only be received through the Arabic language, this is in complete contrast to the God of the Bible who supplied many early Christians (specifically the apostles) with the ability to speak and carry the message in tongues they had never before studied (Acts 2:7-8, et al.) in order for the Gospel to reach all peoples (Col. 1:23). In fact, when God himself desired to speak a message to Saul of Tarsus, He spoke “in the Hebrew tongue” (Acts 26:14). Paul wrote that there are “so many kinds of voices (or “languages” NKJV) in the world, and none of them is without signification (or “significance” NKJV)” (1 Cor. 14:10). Part 2 of 4 11914 State Hwy 30 College Station, TX 77845
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:34:55 +0000
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